


Why

by aw_hannah, spookyweek



Category: Smosh
Genre: Alternate Universe - High School, Alternate Universe - Soulmates, Angst with a Happy Ending, Enemies to Lovers, Homophobia, M/M, Tooth-Rotting Fluff, Very slight tho
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-10-19
Updated: 2018-10-19
Packaged: 2019-08-04 12:33:34
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,836
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16346807
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/aw_hannah/pseuds/aw_hannah, https://archiveofourown.org/users/spookyweek/pseuds/spookyweek
Summary: “I found my soulmate.”“What?! Who is it?”“Shayne Topp.”





	Why

**Author's Note:**

> shoutout to the entire hrp gc for making sure i didn't completely give up and delete this whole thing. thanks to cat and madi for helping anytime i got writer's block and to hannah for writing this huge mess with me. enjoy.

_‘Tell me how we’re not alike but we work so well and we don’t even know **why** …’_  
  
\---

“Dude, what the fuck?” Damien spun around to face the person that just caused him to more than likely obtain a bruise or two from the lockers, repositioning his now slightly off center bookbag on his back.  
  
“It was an accident, chill,” Shayne stated, smirking slightly, knowing that it wasn’t.  
  
“It wasn’t and you know it,” this earned nothing but a slight laugh from Shayne, so Damien continued. “If you’re gonna be a dick at least tell me why because, at least to my knowledge, I’ve never done anything to you to make you hate me.”  
  
Shayne opened his mouth to speak before Damien interrupted him. “And don’t give me that typical school hierarchy bullshit, that’s not a good enough reason.”  
  
Before Damien even had the chance to say anything else, Shayne was already in the process of turning to walk away. Damien assessed the situation, taking a second to note the crowd that had gathered around the pair of them, before reaching out to grab Shayne's arm to keep him from walking away. He wasn’t letting this go that easy.

As soon as Damien's hand reached his skin, it was like a volt of electricity went through him, causing him to rocket backward out of utter shock as the world around him exploded into vibrant color. He glanced around, realizing he must have looked completely insane, judging by the looks on everyone's faces around him. Boze made eye contact with him and raised an eyebrow. Damien quickly avoided her gaze and turned back to face the boy in front of him, who appeared to have seen a ghost. This was a sight Damien never thought he’d see. Shayne Topp staring at him; his pupils abnormally large in his blue eyes, his entire face ghost white, and his lips slightly parted in disbelief. Damien didn’t get to enjoy the moment long before Shayne snapped back to reality, remembering they were in public, and, not wanting to give any sort of inclination as to what the two of them had just exchanged, removed the shocked expression from his face.

Damien could feel people staring at him the rest of the day. He wasn’t sure if it was just his mind playing tricks on him but he was certain he could hear people whispering about him, saying how he found his soulmate and it was a _boy_ . Sure, same-sex soulmates were a thing, but they weren’t that common — at least not where they lived. Of course, no one could actually be sure that was what had happened earlier that day in the hallway, but Damien was sure they all had a pretty good idea.

\-------------

“Boze! It’s not funny, stop laughing.” Damien half shouted, smiling slightly at his friend. Only Boze would find joy in his personal struggles.

“Dude, you have to admit, it’s kinda funny. Shayne Topp, of all people, is your soulmate.” Boze retaliated, flopping backward onto the empty space beside Damien.

“Oh my god, you’re _so_ right. My literal worst enemy is my soulmate. _So_ funny, Boze.”  
  
The two of them laid there in silence for a while, lost in their own thoughts before Damien spoke again. “But, I just don’t get how it’s him. There’s gotta be some kind of error.”

“Damien, it’s not computer software—it’s fate. There can’t just be a glitch.”

“But,” Damien continued on, confused, “how can it be him? I’ve never thought of Shayne like that.”

“So you admit you think of him?” Boze questioned, raising her eyebrow slightly, earning an eye roll from Damien.  
  
“Boze, the only time I think of Shayne is when I think about punching him in the dick for all the shit him and his friends put us through.”

“Well, that’s a little gay, Dames.”

“It’s not gay, Boze. I hate him with every fiber of my being,” Damien scoffed.

“You mean to tell me that the conflict between Batman and Superman isn’t a little gay?”

“ _Boze_. Can you please take this seriously?”  
  
“Okay, okay. But, seriously, Dames. Why does this have you so worked up? Is it really that big a deal that your soulmate’s male?”

“It’s not the gender that’s a problem, that’s not the thing that’s bugging me. I’m fine with having a male soulmate but, I don’t know.” Damien sighed, trailing off, and pushing himself into a sitting position on his bed.

“You don’t know what?” Boze questioned, mimicking his movements so she was also sitting up straight.

“I never really imagined my soulmate being a certain gender. I wasn’t at all against my soulmate being male, but I certainly didn’t imagine my soulmate being _him_.”  
  
\-------------

 _Damien Haas? Of all people?_  
  
_Does this mean I_ **_am_ ** _gay?_  
  
How can this be happening?  
  
It had been a few days now since Shayne discovered Damien was his soulmate, and he was not processing it well. At that moment, he was pacing back and forth across his bedroom, trying to figure out what to do.

He sat down on his bed, pausing his pacing momentarily and pulled out his phone, letting his fingers dance across the keyboard for a second before actually beginning to type out a message to Ian.

 _Emergency. Come quick._  
  
After pressing send, he stood up and returned to pacing. He hadn’t even had time to tackle the fact that his soulmate was someone who he was supposed to hate, although he wasn’t sure why anymore. His main focus right now was coming to terms with the fact that his soulmate was male.  
  
A part of Shayne always knew he was gay, but he could never find the courage to admit it to himself. It was scary, being gay wasn’t really something his family would’ve been okay with, so he suppressed it. He supposed there wasn’t really any denying it anymore.

He was gay.

He was snapped out of his thoughts by the sound of knocking on his front door. Apparently, more time than he thought has passed because when he opened the front door, Ian was standing there, looking concerned and winded.

Ian stood there trying to catch his breath, looking Shayne up and down as if he was inspecting him for wounds. “Wh-what? I expected to get here and for you to be bleeding out on the floor. You made it sound like you were literally dying.”

“Well, I’m not literally, but I _am_ figuratively dying, Ian.” Shayne grabbed Ian by the arm and pulled him back down the hallway to his room.

“Okay, so if you’re not literally dying, why did you 911?”

That was all it took to send Shayne into a huge explanation of what happened between Damien and himself in the hallway just days earlier.

“You remember that fight?” Shayne asked, running his fingers through his hair.

“Fight? No. I remember you almost letting a loser get the best of you, though,” Ian smirked.

“He’s not a loser,” Shayne snapped.

“Damn, Shayne. Calm down,” Ian spoke, taking a step away from Shayne. “But, yeah, fine. I remember it. Why?”

“Some—something happened. That day,” Shayne huffed.

“Yes, Shayne. We’ve been over this. You almost got your ass kicked by a gay ass theater kid.”

“He has a name, Ian,” Shayne shouted.

“Dude, what’s wrong with you?”

“Nothing. I just. We need to stop being such assholes to them,” Shayne sighed.

“Okay…”

“Damien isn’t even that bad,” Shayne started.

“Oh, he’s ‘Damien’ now?”

“ _Ian!_ ” Shayne interrupted, causing Ian to actually be quiet for once. “He’s so kind and caring to all of his friends. He’s so smart in class and he’s always prepared. He is so talented, like. Have you seen the theater kids practice lately? It’s insane.”

“Dude. Do you have a crush on him or something?”  
  
“ _No!_ ” Shayne stated, obviously becoming flustered. “He’s just a good guy. His hair is always somehow perfectly styled, and he has these really beautiful brown eyes that, if the light hits just right, sometimes look hazel. And—“

“Hazel? Brown? Since when can you see colo—wait...Shayne, are you telling me Damien Fucking Haas is your soulmate?”

“Yeah...I guess he is,” Shayne replied, trying and failing to fight off the smile creeping onto his face.

“And are you telling me that you actually have feelings for him?”

“Yeah, I think I do. Is that a problem?” Shayne asked, anger and anxiety starting to fill the pit in his stomach.

“Uh, yeah. He’s a fucking theater kid, Shayne. You’re the varsity quarterback. Plus, you’re both _dudes_ . Did you really think that was gonna fly?” Ian scoffed as he started pacing around Shayne.

“I kinda did, yeah. He’s my soulmate for fucks sake, Ian,” Shayne couldn’t help but stare at him in disbelieve. “Besides, we need to stop being such assholes all the time. It’s not gonna fly when we get older, and it’s just basic human decency.”

“What’s gotten into you?” Ian spoke, looking the blonde up and down, his voice full of disgust as he turned to walk away, storming out of Shayne's bedroom, the door slamming loudly behind him.

Shayne stood in his empty room, left with nothing but his thoughts to consume him, tears welling up in his eyes. Once it hit him that he was truly alone in this, he collapsed on his bed, the tears streaming down his face and sobs taking over his body.  
  
\-------------

Damien sat in English class on that Wednesday morning. Normally, this would be his chance to see Shayne. However, the blonde had been missing from school since their run in on Friday. Damien couldn’t help but worry and think part of it was his fault.

As soon as Damien started to think about this, Shayne appeared in the door. He looked pale. His usually bright—and blue, as Damien could now see—eyes were puffy, the dark circles under them more noticeable than usual. He looked as if he hasn’t gotten any sleep in days. The sight of him made Damien’s heart ache beneath his ribs.  
  
Shayne made his way toward his empty seat in the back of the classroom, which just happened to be the one right next to Damien. Damien leaned over toward Shayne. “Hey,” he whispered, yet the blonde showed no sign of hearing him. “Shayne, we should talk about what happened.”

Nothing.

“Are you okay? I know a lot must be going on since Friday,” Damien started, still trying to get a response, but to no avail. “Shayne, please talk to me.”

Damien felt his heart sink in his chest as he looked at the other boy, who was showing no sign of interest. Less than a week ago, Damien wanted nothing to do with the jock. Yet, here he was, dying for any sort of attention from him, craving it even.

Shayne stayed facing the front of the classroom, all of his energy focused into tuning Damien out. He couldn’t deal with this right now. Not with Ian and Noah continuously glancing backward at the two of them. He could feel their gaze, their laughter, everything. The two of them, judging him—judging _them._  
  
There were a million thoughts swimming through the fog that has been slowly taking over his brain, making him unable to process all of this properly. It was his first day back at school since the incident and everything had changed. On Friday, he had it all: the status, the friends, the looks, any girl at the school, everything. Yet, here he was, with a newly found soulmate that he couldn’t even have.

“Shayne, can you please say something?” Damien asked, bringing him back to reality. This was the final piece of the puzzle, causing something within him to snap.

“Can you not take a hint?! I’m not interested. I don’t _give_ blowjobs,” Shayne said angrily while pushing himself up out of his desk and storming out of the classroom.

This left Damien speechless in his seat. Even after his own initial shock on Friday and his confusion at Shayne Topp being his soulmate, he never imagined him reacting like this. They were soulmates. It was their destiny to be together. There had to be something wrong.

Damien stood up from his seat and walked toward the teacher’s desk. “May I use the restroom?” Damien asked, barely slowing down to grab the hall pass off the desk. “Okay. Cool, thanks,” his teacher hadn’t even had a chance to respond before Damien had already made it halfway out the door.

Just like that, he was off to find Shayne. He wasn’t letting him just ignore this. They were soulmates and they had to discuss it, whether they liked it or not.

He was running down the halls, his mind only set on finding his soulmate. Yet, he had no idea where he could be. All he knew was that Shayne was a dick and he hated school. The jock was only passing his classes due to the football coach talking to his teachers. He was constantly shitting on the school and all of its programs besides sports. It gave Damien little to no content to work with.

“The football field, you _dumbass_ !” Damien angrily whispered to himself, his pace suddenly speeding up now that he had a true destination.

When he finally found him, Shayne was on the football field, exactly where Damien expected him to be, tossing a ball around in the air. Damien took off down the steps that let down toward the field, walking closer to Shayne.

“Hey!” Damien yelled, finally reaching an appropriate distance from the other boy to speak.

Shayne turned to see where the voice was coming from. Realizing it was Damien, he rolled his eyes, letting out an audible groan before turning to walk in the opposite direction. “Didn’t I tell you I didn’t want anything to do with you?” He spat, looking back at the other boy, who was slowly getting closer to him.

“Yeah, you did. One problem though, I don’t care. I’m not missing out on my one chance at a soulmate just because mine turned out to be a fucking dick.”  
  
Shayne said nothing, he just continued walking. This caused Damien to quicken his pace in order to catch up with the blonde. “Hey,” He started, reaching out to grab Shayne’s wrist so he was forced to stop and turn to face him. “I’m trying to talk to you.”

Shayne finally made eye contact with the brunette, his breath hitching slightly, noticing, not for the first time, how beautiful all of Damien’s features were.

Somehow he managed to redirect his attention to the conversation at hand. “So talk,” he responded, making eye contact again, trying to ignore the change in pace of his heart beneath his ribs.

“Listen, Shayne, I’m just as confused about all of this as you are. Trust me, if I was able to pick my soulmate, you would be the last person I would chose.”

Shayne would’ve been lying if he said that didn’t sting a little. He began walking towards the benches on the far side of the field.

Noticing the mildly hurt look on his face, Damien followed him and continued. “Oh, come on, as if you wouldn’t say the same thing about me.”

“You really think that low of me?” Shayne asked, the pain evident in his voice.

“Shayne, you and your asshole friends literally shoved me in a locker last month.”

“That wasn’t me,” Shayne said as he looked down and away from Damien. “That was Ian’s thing.”

“You still helped though, Shayne,” Damien stated, the unresolved emotion starting to come through in his voice. “Someone had to shut the door, and it was you.”

“I know I was an asshole,” Shayne sighed. He couldn’t help but feel the twinge of regret in his chest. “But I didn’t really have a choice.”

“Yes, Shayne. You did,” Damien said, his voice starting to rise in volume. “You didn’t have to listen to everything Ian said.”

“If I didn’t, he was going to ruin my life,” Shayne said, his voice soft and his stature small in response to Damien’s anger.

“So it was okay for you all to ruin mine?”

“No, that’s not what I meant,” Shayne shook his head as he turned away from Damien.

Damien just looked at Shayne with disappointment and confusion in his eyes. “Then what did you mean?” he said, a small pleading tone in his voice.

“I know I should have stopped it, okay—“

“Shayne, stop with the bullshit apologies and actually tell me what’s up.”

“I told Ian about us this weekend,” Shayne started, his voice quiet. Damien wasn’t too surprised at this news, given that he had told Boze, his own best friend, about the two of them. “He is basically disgusted at the fact that my soulmate is a man. And a ‘gay ass theater kid’ at that.”

Shayne's voice had begun to shake, tears welling up in his eyes. “He hasn’t talked to me since I told him. I tried texting him, calling him, anything. He was the one person I thought I could trust. But he’s gone.”

Shayne reached the bench on the far side of the field and sat down, resting his head in his hands. Damien knew he needed to comfort him, but he had no idea how.

He walked up to the bench, looking down at the blonde who was clearly in pain, causing him to realize what he needed to do. He sat down next to Shayne, scooting closer to him and placing his hand on his back, moving it in circles to comfort him.

“It’s gonna be okay, Shayne,” Damien said, his voice soft. “It’ll work out.”

“How do you know that?” Shayne spoke. “There’s no way you could know that.”

“Because now you have me,” Damien said, looking down.

Shayne looked up at Damien. He couldn’t help but notice the way the sun reflected in his eyes, making them a gorgeous shade of hazel. Shayne’s gaze dropped lower to the brunettes lips. They looked soft and pink. Shayne couldn’t help but think about kissing them. He was so lost in his own thoughts he didn’t even notice Damien looking back at him. Noticing the way his now mostly dried tears made his blue eyes sparkle, and how his messy blonde hair fell across his face.

For a second Shayne forgot where they were, what they were doing there, everything. Sitting here, with Damien so close to him and his hand on his back, it was so easy to forget. It was easy here to act like everything was normal, like this is how it’s supposed to be. He loved that Damien had that effect on him, the ability to make him forget—to feel better.

Shayne looked into Damien’s eyes, then flickered down to his lips. He placed his hand on the cheek of the brunette, pulling him close and making their lips collide.

He sat there, their lips pressed together, taking the moment in. But, it wasn’t everything that he thought it would be. Something wasn’t right. Damien wasn’t kissing him back. Shayne recoiled instantly.

“Oh my gosh, I’m so sorry,” the blonde rambled, his heart racing and anxiety at full speed. “I didn’t mean to make you uncomfortable. I totally misread the situation. Uh, fuck.”

Shayne rested his head in his hands and looked towards the ground. “God, I’m so stupid.”

“You’re not stupid,” Damien replied. “Stop saying you’re stupid.”

“I am though. I shouldn’t have kissed you. Why would you have even wanted me to kiss you? I’ve been nothing but an ass to you, there’s literally no reason you would have wanted that.” Shayne felt tears stinging the corners of his eyes again, realizing he was truly alone in all this. If his own soulmate didn’t want him, who would?

“Shayne?” Damien spoke, cutting the silence with his voice. No reply. “Shayne.” He tried again, earning only a small noise of embarrassment from the blonde boy, who lifted his head slightly so it was no longer resting in his hands.

After not being able to get Shayne to look at him, Damien resorted to the last thing he knew to do. He reached his hand out, placing it on the boys cheek and forcing Shayne to look at him. In one swift motion, he proceeded to bring their faces back together, their lips colliding into another kiss.

Shock overtook Shayne’s body for a second. Was this really happening? Was Damien really kissing him back?

After recovering from the initial shock, Shayne allowed his eyes to flutter closed, finally able to enjoy the moment. It was everything he thought it would be. Their lips moving in perfect sync, like this was exactly what they were meant to be doing. Shayne supposed it was. They were soulmates, after all. They were _made_ for each other.

Shayne wrapped his arms around Damien’s neck. _Nothing could beat this feeling_ , Shayne thought. Feeling Damien’s hands in his hair and his lips pressed against Shayne’s own, smiling into the kiss.

The two of them both paused to breathe at the same time, resting their foreheads together and smiling, their hearts still pounding in their chests.

“Not to be cheesy, but that was even better than I could have ever imagined,” Shayne spoke, breaking the silence that was previously only filled with the sound of their breathing.

The comment earned a laugh from the brown-haired boy. “So, you admit you’ve thought about kissing me?” Damien grinned wide, raising his brows.

“Shut up, Haas.” Shayne smiled back before grabbing a fistful of the fabric of Damien’s shirt and pulling him in to connect their lips again.

\-------------

“God, you’re cute.” Damien sighed, watching the heat rise to the blonde’s cheeks at the compliment.  
  
Shayne laughed nervously, his gaze dropping to the other boy’s chest. He never was good at taking compliments.  
  
It had been a week since the day on the football field, the day they had their first kiss, and the pair was currently laying in Damien’s bed facing each other, their bodies almost touching— almost.

They had done this every day since the kiss. The first time, Shayne was just giving Damien a ride home to avoid him having to take the bus—and as an excuse to spend more time with him. However; when they arrived at Damien’s house, the brunette didn’t hesitate to invite him inside. Of course, Shayne obliged. They spent hours there that day, just talking, growing closer as friends and as soulmates.

After that, it became a regular occurrence. Shayne would drive Damien home and they would sit in his room talking for hours until Damien’s mom had dinner ready. After he’d eaten, Shayne would allow Damien to walk him outside to his car where the pair shared a quick kiss before parting ways to repeat it all again the next day.

Shayne sighed, rolling over onto his back, staring up at the ceiling. Neither of them spoke. They just laid there in a comfortable silence, taking in the presence of the other person. Shayne felt Damien’s weight shift as the other boy rolled over onto his back, scooting his body closer to Shayne’s own.

They were laying so close now that, if Shayne wanted, he could reach out and take Damien’s hand in his own—and God, did he want to. He craned his neck to look up at Damien, who had now let his eyes close and had a small smile on his face, then back down to their hands. He ignored the pounding in his chest, moving his hand slightly so their pinkies were touching. Damien took the hint, moving his hand so that all their fingers were interlocked, moving closer to Shayne yet again.

Shayne had a love-hate relationship with the way Damien made him feel. He loved that Damien made him feel giddy and happy, but he hated that no matter how much time passed he felt like that feeling was never going to go away. He was certain that for the rest of their lives together those butterflies he got every time Damien looked at him, or touched him, or kissed him would never fade. He hated it, but he loved it at the same time.

He moved his head to rest it on the slightly taller boy's shoulder, feeling Damien mimic his movements so his head was resting on top of Shayne’s own. He let his eyes close, taking in the other boy’s presence.

“Oh, you’ll never guess what Boze did the other day,” Damien started. Shayne, however, was so lost in his own thoughts he didn’t hear Damien start his sentence.

“Damien?” Shayne interrupted, his eyes opening. A small hum escaped Damien’s lips, as he squeezed Shayne’s hand—letting him know he was listening. “Would you maybe wanna be my boyfriend?” The last few words came out so fast they were practically one. Shayne’s eyes darted around the room his heart pounding in his chest.

Deep down, part of him knew Damien would say yes. After all, they had been _acting_ like boyfriends since that day on the football field. There was also the fact that they were soulmates. Still, there was a small part of Shayne that assumed he’d get rejected. Shayne knew Damien was too good for him, that he didn’t deserve to call him his boyfriend, but he still wanted it.

There was a pause. Shayne was sure Damien would turn him down, laugh at him, something worse than anything that realistically would happen. “I mean, I thought I already was,” Damien chuckled. “I guess that’s what I get for assuming.” Damien shifted so they were facing each other again.

“Yeah, I guess you already were. I just—I, fuck. I don’t know. I—“ Shayne stopped mid-sentence, sitting up straight in the bed, heat burning his cheeks again. He felt embarrassed he even had to ask. Of course, Damien already considered him his boyfriend. Shayne drove him home every day, Damien always invited him in, he was always welcome to stay for dinner, Damien always walked him out when he left, and he _always_ kissed him goodbye. It made sense. He hated that he let his insecurity get the best of him.

“Hey,” Damien interrupted him mid spiral, his soft tone snapping Shayne back to reality. He followed Shayne’s movements so they were sitting side by side on the bed. He paused, placing his hand on Shayne’s cheek, softly moving his thumb across the skin. “Of course I’ll be your boyfriend. Officially.” Damien’s eyes flicked back and forth across Shayne’s face—his _boyfriend’s_ face.

The blonde’s face lit up at Damien’s response. He hopped up on the bed on his knees, causing Damien to smile widely at his reaction. Shayne grabbed Damien’s face with his hands and kissed him so forcefully it sent them both falling backward onto the bed. Shayne pulled away, finding himself frozen on top of the other boy. Blushing, he broke eye contact for a split second before his eyes found Damien’s again.

The two of them launched into a small fit of giggles, taking in the ridiculousness of the situation. Damien stared into Shaynes blue eyes, mesmerized. Shayne looked back at him, his eyes flicking from Damien’s eyes to his lips. He went in to kiss the other boy again, his nose hitting the lense of Damien’s glasses. He pulled away abruptly, his blush intensifying. Usually, Damien was wearing his contacts so this didn’t happen.

“Shit, sorry,” Damien spoke. “These things get in the way sometimes.” He made a motion to sit upright, so Shayne rolled over to lay on his back beside him. He watched the brunette slide his glasses off and place them on the nightstand beside his bed.

He didn’t know how exactly it happened but, next thing Shayne knew, he was sitting up straight with his back rested against Damien’s pillows with the other boy was on top of him, his legs on either side of Shayne’s hips. Then Damien was kissing him again.

Shayne’s brain felt like it was short-circuiting. He couldn’t focus on anything but Damien. It was like his body took on a mind separate from his own. He only felt the sensation of Damien’s lips on his own, his hands running through his soft brown hair. The other boy’s hands running under his shirt over his stomach, while he gripped Damien’s shirt, pulling him closer.

Suddenly, there was a knock at the bedroom door. They jumped apart, startled at the sudden noise, their hair messy and cheeks still burning.

“Boys! Dinner!” They heard Damien’s mom call from the other side.

\-------------

“Shayne.”  
  
The blonde turned around, expecting Damien to be right behind him but instead, he stood behind Shayne, a few steps further down. He looked pale, his body frozen in place, and his eyes were darting around taking in all the students milling around them. Shayne retreated down the stairs to stand in front of him, giving his boyfriend a worried look.  
  
“Dames? What’s wrong?” Shayne questioned, placing a hand on Damien’s shoulder.  
  
“Nothing. Just—It just hit me. We’re going to be the first openly gay couple at our school.” Damien suddenly felt sick.  
  
He lowered himself down to take a seat on one of the steps, Shayne following suit.  
  
“And?”  
  
“And? Aren’t you worried?”  
  
Shayne laughed. “About what?”  
  
“What people will say. What they’ll think.” Damien looked back at Shayne, his eyes searching his face for some reassurance that things were going to be okay.

“Fuck what they think.” Shayne paused, placing a hand on Damien’s knee. “How am I less worried about this than you are?” He grinned.  
  
“I have no clue,” Damien laughed, shaking his head.  
  
“Their opinions don’t matter. Besides,” Shayne paused, leaning over to kiss Damien’s cheek, causing him to turn bright red. “We’re soulmates.”  
  
The pair sat in silence for a minute, Damien placing his hand over Shayne’s on his knee. Shayne moved to take off the varsity jacket that currently hung off his shoulders, earning a puzzled look from the other boy. He didn’t reply. He just smiled, placing the jacket around the brunette.

Damien smiled, sliding his arms into the sleeves of the jacket and standing up. He held his hand out to help Shayne up, lacing their fingers together once they were both standing.

“You sure you’re ready for this?” Damien asked, squeezing Shayne’s hand, earning a nod. “Well, let’s do it.”

They walked up the stairs and in the front door making their way down the narrow hallway, hand in hand. Shayne could feel everyone looking at them, but all he could see was Damien—his brown-eyed, glasses wearing, theatre nerd boyfriend.

It felt like it was just the two of them walking down that hallway. The staring didn’t matter. The snide comments didn’t matter. The only thing that mattered was that they had each other.

Shayne was so caught up in his own thoughts, and Damien, that he almost ran right into Ian. Shayne took a few steps back, instinctively stepping in front of Damien.

“Hey, man,” Ian started, not managing to get anything else out before Shayne interrupted him.

“Fuck off, Ian.”

“Shayne, seriously?” Ian whispered, looking at the blonde with a flustered expression.

“What do you want?”

“I, uh,” Ian started. He kept pausing in between his words. “I just wanted to—”

“To what, Ian.” It wasn’t a question. Shayne was tired of this conversation already.

“To apologize.”

This sparked Shayne’s interest. “For?” Obviously, he knew the answer, but he was milking this for all it was worth.

“For, um,”

“For making me feel like a lesser human?”

“Shayne—“

“For thinking it’s disgusting my soulmate could be a man?”

“Shayne, stop.”

“For abandoning me when I was confiding in you?”

“Stop,” Ian snapped. “Just, stop. Please. Let me say something.”

Shayne was taken slightly aback by Ian’s outburst. He was not expecting the boy to react that way. “Okay, talk,” Shayne said, crossing his arms and standing his ground.

“I know what I did was fucked up,” Ian sighed, exasperated. “I shouldn’t have reacted the way I did. I should have been there for you. You are—you were my best friend. I’m sorry for hurting you. I was wrong. I’ve changed. And I hope you can forgive me.”

Shayne sighed, looking down at the space in between the two of them. “Are you going to stop being an asshole?” He asked, looking back up at Ian.

“Yes,” Ian said. “Like I said, I’ve changed.”

“To everyone?” Shayne spoke, his hand reaching back to grab his boyfriend’s, who had been quiet and in the background the entire time. Damien had barely looked up from the ground until now, his interest peaking and his gaze focusing on the jock.

Ian looked around, noticing how everyone was staring at him. Everyone he had bullied for years. The mathletes, the band kids, the theater nerds. His gaze landed on Damien and Shayne. Shayne, the boy who had been his best friend since kindergarten. Damien, who had been his biggest target for years. Ian looked at the two of them, taking in the fact that they were holding hands, Damien in Shayne’s jacket, Shayne’s relaxed nature despite the tense situation, because they had everything they needed regardless.

“To everyone,” Ian nodded. “No more being an asshole.”

“Good,” Shayne said.

The two of them stood there, feeling their friendship shift back into some sort of normal reality once again.

“So, Ian. This is Damien, my boyfriend,” Shayne smiled, stepping aside to reveal Damien to the boy in front of them. Shayne shifted his attention to his boyfriend. “Damien, this is Ian, my best friend.”

“It’s nice to officially meet you, Damien,” Ian said, leaning forward slightly.

“Same with you,” Damien smiled slightly, then shifted his attention back to the blonde. “Ready to go to class?”

“Yes,” Shayne nodded. “We’ll see you later?” He asked, directing his attention back to Ian.

“Yeah, definitely.”

The three of them shared a small nod before walking off in different directions. Once they were a decent amount away, Damien let out a breath he didn’t even know he was holding, relaxing practically his entire body.

“Jesus Christ,” he sighed.

“What?” Shayne chuckled, placing his hand on Damien’s shoulder.

“That was insanely stressful,” Damien said, his voice high and flustered.

“Aw, Dames,” Shayne smiled. “I know, but it’s okay. It’s all over with now.”

“Yeah, you’re right,” Damien smiled, looking down at the boy.

Shayne reached up, kissing Damien’s temple to help calm him, pulling him slightly closer as he did so. A small, content hum escaped Damien’s lips.

“ _That’s gay!_ ” someone called down the hallway. The two boys turned to see the source, filled with anxiety and anger, only to be met with the presence of Boze, Damien’s best friend.

“Boze!” Damien shouted, slightly relieved.

“What? I’m not wrong.”


End file.
